A report into clerical child abuse in Dublin released later today will "shock and horrify" the whole of Ireland, a leading figure in the Catholic church has admitted.

The Dublin Diocese Commission will name up to 15 priests they say were guilty of abusing children in the Irish capital over a 35-year-period.

Up to 450 victims have also been identified by the commission which will present the report to the Irish justice minister Dermot Ahern.

The Irish government now has to decide whether it should publicly name the clergy identified in the report.

"The report will shock and horrify Ireland," according to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, who played a key role in setting up the investigation and is seen by the Vatican as someone determined to reform the image of the Catholic church in Ireland.

It will name 15 priests, 11 of whom have been convicted through the Irish courts and four who are already well known.

The report was established in March 2006 and examined child sex abuse allegations against 46 priests and how each case was handled by 19 Dublin bishops between 1975 and 2004.

Part of the report will heavily criticise a so-called power culture among the Dublin bishops who have been accused of not taking the allegations seriously.

Ahern is understood to be preparing to hand over the report to the Republic's attorney general for legal advice.

The report deals with three men currently facing court cases and in two instances these men have served sentences in connection with child abuse, while a third has pleaded guilty to the latest charges against him. The men are not likely to go on trial until April next year.

In order to avoid prejudicing the cases the attorney general Paul Gallagher may publish the report but give the three men in question pseudonyms.